Currently, data centers often process traffic independently from one another. Accordingly, an operator of a data center needs to ensure that the data center is able to continue to process any traffic received by the data center even when a commercial power failure occurs (e.g., when the data center stops receiving commercial power from a commercial power supplier during a snow storm). To do so, the operator provides redundant power supplies, including multiple backup power supplies (e.g., a battery power supply, a generator power supply, etc.), for all elements of the data center. The operator of the data center needs to expend considerable resources to provision and operate the multiple backup power sources (e.g., build power plants) that can provide sufficient power for all the elements when the commercial power failure occurs.
During a power failure, other data centers, of the operator, that are located in different locations (e.g., connected to different power grids) may continue to receive commercial power and have unused processing capacity. Furthermore, an operator of data centers often pays varied prices, which vary based on geography and/or time of day, for commercial power used by the data centers. Currently, the operator is unable to adjust which ones of the data centers process traffic in order to minimize energy costs.